Pressure grease gun



Aug.l 9, 1'932.

QHIHIH,

E, A. DUNLAP 1,870,497

PRESSURE GREASE GUN Filed June l0, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l f' Il!) l' E MUD gwn/nio@ @@Mwymfmwwf@ Aug. 9, 1932. E. A, DUNLAP v 1,870,497

PRESSURE GREASE GUN Filed June lO, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 :Jn/venice Em rr'zeZ/. Dunlap Patented ug. 9, 1932 NlED STATES PATENT OFFICE Ell/IMETT ADDISON DUNLAP, 0F FORT WORTH, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR TO RELIANCE MA- CHINE & STAMPING IVORKS, INC., OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, A CORPORATION OF LOUISIANA PRESSURE GREASE GUN Application filed .Tune y10,

This invention relates to pressure grease guns and has for its general object the provision of a gun particularly adapted for the pressure feeding of sticks of hard grease.

@ne of the more specific objects of the invention is to provide a grease gunof the type described in which the plunger operating parts are carried solely by the plunger free from any mechanical connection with any other part of the grease gun .so that the said parts are completely removable with the plunger7 giving unimpeded access to the barrel for putting in a fresh stick of grease and also making it conveniently feasible to attach the barrel to the part to be oiled before associating with it the plunger and its appurtenant actuating mechanism.

Another object of the invention is the provision of operating mechanism which can be freely oriented around the gun barrel so as to bring the operatinghandle to the most convenient position.

till another object of the invention is to provide the grease gun with a quick attachable elbow coupling to permit its operation in positions 90o displaced.

@ther objects of the invention will appear as the following description of a preferred and practical embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the drawings in which the same characters of reference are used throughout the several figures to denote identical parts: V

Figure l is a side elevation partly in section of my improved grease gun;

Figure 2 is a section taken along the line 2 2 of Figure l, looking up;

Figures 3, 4 and 5 are consecutively, side sectional, top sectional and bottom plan views of the elbow attachment;

Figure 6 is a side elevation of a portion of a locomotive showing the grease gun applied to a nipple vertically without the elbow attachment and Figure 7 is a similar view showing the grease gun applied horizontally with the aid of the elbow attachment, the latter in this instance being unitary with the barrel; and

Figure 8 is a longitudinal sectional view through the nipple. n

Referring now in detail to the several g- 1930. Serial No. 460,182.

ures and lirst adverting to Figures l and 2, the numeral l represents the barrel of the grease gun which is preferably enlarged at its lower end to form a socket 2, the latter being preferably internally threaded to receive a bushing 3 formed with bayonet slots t and constituting a quick attachable coupling in connection with the pin 5, Figure 6, forming part of the lubricating nipple.

The barrel is formed with a bore 6 of a uniform diameter adapted to receive a stick of hard grease 7 which is to be followed by a plunger 8. The barrel is provided with a handle 9 by means of which it may be rotated through a sufficient angle to properly engage the bayonet slots l with the pin 5. rIhe outer surface of the barrel is formed with a series of annular ratchet-like shoulders 10 having their abrupt faces in planes substan tially perpendicular to the axis of the plunger and facing downwardly, that is to say, in the direction in which the plunger is to be forced in discharging the grease.

rlhe operating means for the plunger comprises a handle ll mounted upon a horizontal pivot 1.2 at the top of the plunger.

A pair of links 13 are arranged in parallel spaced relation at the opposite end of the handle ll being pivotally mounted to the.

against the sides of the barrel, the upper edge portion 17 of said ring pawl engaging beneath one of the shoulders 10 of the barrel and fulcruming there against while at the same time the opposite wall of the opening is forced against the side of the barrel, preventing relative longitudinal movement between said ring pawl and said barrel.

In operation, a stick of grease having been insertedvin the barrel, the plunger together with the operating mechanism is putin place, the ring pawl which already surrounds the shoulder 10Y of the barrel and at the same time forces the opposite wall of the ring pawl into contact with the opposite side oy the barrel. The ring pawl thus becomes immovably fixed for the moment relative tothe barrel andv inhibits all further upward movement of the links'l` so that the pivot 1,4 b ecomes the fulcrfuni for the handle 1l and downward pressure upon said handle forces the plunger 8 into. the barrel against the stickof grease discharging some, of the latterint lthe fitting towhich the barrel is attached. Y -Y`I'another shot of grease is desired, the lever 11 is raised lowering the linksv 13, reducing the degree ofcant of the ring pawl 16,"permitting`A the latter to slip over the ratchet-like shoulder of the barrel until the edgev portion 17 comes beneath another one ofthe shoulders lOfA The amount of grease to be discharged may be.v determined at will by taking., a long` or short stroke of.. the handlefll, causing lthe edge portion 17 to slip over'one orf'more than onefof the shoulders ai. a time. l i

It is noted that the fitting is, without a spring-fory assistingin seating. the checkl valve since the stiifnSSOiik the. lubricant precludes the praxctlical'functioiiing, of a, returnA spring. Each time the. lever,y lflis pressed down.- wa'rd,theedge.V portion 17 of the ring pawl will, be brought and held against the. shoul# defw'hichitimmediately underlies. `ThiS.

` operation may berepeated until the fitting has beenisupplied or` until the stiekkof. grease has'beco'me exhausted. The ringv pawl 16 may then be restored to al position off axial parallelism with the barrell 'andireadily slid towfard the u Lper. endof the barrel simultaneously wit the removal of the plunger.

' lIt is'als'o possible, as willybe presently described, to elevatetheplunger step by step, forv removal; ofthe latter'or to reduce pressureonlthe grease stick so that the quick detachable, coupling can be, vdisconnected, by canting the rlngp'awl in the opposite direction sof'that upon' operating* theV handle the tp awl. presses ragainst the shouldery be- QW` 1v9 i There are two ways in which the ring pawl l6imay be initially canted or. restored to its position of axial parallelism. One way isbyy merel manipulation of the fingerA piece 1 8, the latterbeingpushed down in order'v to. cant the ring vpafwland bindit against the,

barrel and pushed up in order to bring the ring pawl to a position in which it is freel)7 slidable with respect to the barrel. The other way, and which is to be preferred, is to provide a spring pressed detent 19 which may be conveniently located between the links, said detent comprising a notched head, the notch of which is capable of being engaged with a projection 2O formed on the ring pawl, or which projection may alternatively engage one or the other of the sloping faces 21 and 22 by which the detent is flanked.

The detent is bolt-like in form as indicated at 23, and slides in nut-like fittings 24 and 25 pivotally secured between the links 13. The spring 26 keeps the detent in yielding en agement with the, ring pawl.

n1 o erating thet grease gun with the def tent,` t e finger piece. 178 is manipulated to bring the projection 20 into the notch of the detent. In this position thev rinor pawl is retainedy withy its axis parallel'to t at of the barrel and may be freely slid up and down the` barrel or taken off therefrom with the plunger. When the plunger is re-inserted, the ring pawl, retainsthisl neutral position, but upon the handle 11 being depressed, the edge portion 17 bears sufficiently against the adjacent side of the barrel tocause projec-. tion 20 to spring out ofA` the detent as shown in Figure 1, cant-ing the ring. pawl so that the edge portion 17 then engages the shoulder 10 in themanner as. previously described.

If the plunger becomes stuck in the barrel and therefore' 'difficult toV remover by mere manualy pulling. of the same, it. may be readily removed by4 canting the ring pawl 16 inv thev opposite direction, by manipulation of they finger piece 18, sothat the edge portion surrounding theopening, on the right-hand. side engages beneath the shoulder 10, and holding the ringpawl inthisvposition while the handle. 11 is manipulatedv from time to time. As the. plungeryis. withdrawn step by step the ring pawl may be released and reen aged-upon the shoulder 10neXt higher up.

igure 6 showsthe grease gun operating with its pluri er in axialalignment with the fitting to which it4 is.. attached. This is not always a convenientV position1 for the grease gun and consequently,y the elbow fittin shown in Figureisprovided, the lower end of which is identical with the socket 2k shown in Figure 1 and the Aopposite endjof whichis formed4 with a quick attachable nippleL 27 adapted tobe received Within the socket 2v ofthe grease gun. Theuseof thisattachment isobvious and it permits the rease gun to be. operated withthe axis of its arrel at anangleofg 90 tothe of the fitting being` lub'ricated.-v i

It isA obviousthaty screw. threadsl orv other equivalentjmeans.couldbe substituted for the uick attachable means asshown, between t 5e elbow and-barrel, pso that. the elbow could be carried unitarily with the barrel, as a part thereof, as indicated in Figure 7.

It will be understood that since none of the plunger mechanism is mechanically connected to the barrel, the plunger may be rotated within the barrel, carrying with it the operating mechanism and thus the handle 11 may be with the greatest of ease oriented to that position most convenient for its operation.

While I have in the above description endeavored to disclose what I believe to be a preferred and practical form of my invention, it is to be understood that it is merely illustrative of an inventive concept and that the details of construction as shown are merely by way of example and not to be considered limitative in their bearing upon the scope of the invention as claimed.

What I claim is:

l. Grease gun comprising a barrel and plunger operating means vincluding a lever pivotally connected to said plunger operating means, a ring pawl freely slidable longitudinally on said barrel and a linl pivotally connecting said lever and ring pawl, the latter being inclinably in either direction relative to a plane perpendicular to the axis of said barrel so as to engage the sides of said barrel and act as a shiftable fulcrum for said lever.

2. Grease gun comprising a barrel circumferentially corrugated, a. plunger reciprocable in said barrel operating means connected solely to said plunger and including an inclinable ring pawl surrounding said barrel and freely slidable thereupon adapted when inclined to engage the corrugations of said barrel to form a fulcrum for said operating means.

3. Grease gun comprising a barrel, the outer surface of which is provided with a series of circumferential shoulders, a plunger reciprocable in said barrel and operating means connected solely to said plunger including a lever pivotally connected to said plunger, a ring pawl surrounding said barrel and freely slidable longitudinally thereof, and a link pivotally connecting said lever and ring pawl the latter being inclinably in either direction with respect to a plane perpendicular to the axis of said barrel to progressively engage the sho-ulders thereof for affording a shifting fulcrum for said lever.

4. Grease gun as claimed in claim 3, said link including a detent for holding said ring pawl in either of its inclined positions or in a plane perpendicular to the axis of said barrel.

5. Grease gun as claimed in claim 3, the ring pawl being provided with a linger piece for changing its direction of inclination.

6. Grease gun comprising a barrel circumferentially corrugated, a plunger reciprocable in said barrel, operating means for sald plunger including an inclinable ring pawl surrounding said barrel, and a spring detent for said ring pawl for holding it inclined in either direction in engagement with said bar rel or in a plane perpendicular to the axis of said barrel in which plane the ring pawl is freely slidable.

7. Grease gun as claimed in claim 6, the nozzle end being valveless.

8. In a grease gun, in combination, a cylinder having a series of projections thereon, a piston working in said cylinder, a lever pivoted to said piston and a link connected to the end of said lever and having an eye portion surrounding said cylinder and cooperating with said projections to give a step-by-step movement by said piston upon manipulation of said lever,

9. A grease gun comprising in combination, a cylinder having a series of lugs located on the body portion thereof, a pawl cooperating with said lugs, a. piston, and a lever attached to said piston and pawl and operative in combination therewith to give a step-by-step movement tov said piston.

10. In a grease gun, in combination, a cylinder having a series of projections thereon, a piston working in said cylinder, a lever pivoted to said piston, a ring surrounding said cylinder, a link connecting said lever and said ring, said ring cooperating with said projections to give a step-by-step movement of said piston upon manipulation of said lever.

11. In a grease gun, in combination, a cylinder having a series of projections thereon, a piston working` in said cylinder, a lever pivoting on said piston rod, a ring surrounding said cylinder and cooperating with said projections and means connecting said ring and said lever.

l2. Pressure grease gun comprising a barrel and a plunger unit removable as a whole from said barrel, said unit including a plunger, a handle pivoted thereto, a ring pawl surrounding said barrel and said plunger, adapted to ratchet against said barrel in the operation of the grease gun, means suspending said ring pawl from said handle, and means on said pawl engaging its suspending means to prevent its dropping below the end of said plunger when the latter is removed from said barrel.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

EMNIETT ADDISON DUNLAP. 

